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Noise Reduction Shootout
Well after seeing Tim’s test on noise reduction software, I thought I’d try one out myself. I’d never really compared different NR (noise reduction) processes before, instead I’d just basically given up high iso photography. I have to say, after mucking around with the software a little bit, I’m not so worried about using high iso settings on the DSLR anymore. I was quite impressed.
I only had 3 methods of NR which included DPP (Digital Photo Professional), Noise ninja, and “Camera RAW” with photoshop. I tried all on the same photo which I’ve taken a 100% crop sample of. I tried to include a mix of textures in the sample.
View the image below at it’s largest size and you immediately you notice each process produced quite different results.
The original photo was taken indoors with dim light. The digital noise isn’t that bad really, i have other photos that are worse, but I chose this as it had several different textures and is common of the iso noise I get.
Camera RAW seemed to keep the most “faithful” colours, but blurred pretty much everything. Some detail was lost particularly in the edges, which gave an overall soft look to the photo. It seemed to get rid of both noise and grain which are two different things really. By getting rid of some grain it lost a bit of sharpness and detail.
DPP was a little less full on when it came to removing the grain. It still has quite a bit which helps keep some overall sharpness. To my eyes it has a nicer contrast and colour too. I’d never used DPP before, but it looks to be quite effective.
Noise Ninja was again different. I downloaded the 400D (Rebel XTi) NR profile from the manufacturer website and gave it a go. It appears to be bit of a mixed bag. I like how it’s kept some edge sharpness, more than the other programs, but it makes the skin look like plastic. Some people might like that as bit of an airbrushed skin shortcut, but its not to my tastes. The colour has again changed from the original, probably the most drastic out of all. It was also introduced some of its own fragments to the image which look a little messy, this might be treatable in the setting panel which I didn’t play around with (I just used standard setting for all).
After looking at the 3 noise reduction programs, I have to say i quite like them all in one way or another.
I’d never used DPP before, but I liked how it treated the image. It still has some grain, but removes most of the digital noise which is what I want most. It had nice contrast i thought, and the colours looked fine too. The only downside is that there’s not many options for individual settings. So fine tuning is pretty much out of the question. (It almost seems as though it was bit of an after thought with the DPP software, but that’s another story).
Noise ninja seems very powerful with a large range of fine tuning options. I think once i play around with it I’ll be able to reduce the plastic skin look. The colours looked quite different from the original too, but that’s probably another thing that can be fixed also. The program seems to need a bit of fine tuning which is to be expected I guess. But the whole idea is to minimise hours in front of the computer, if I have to play around with NN each time I use it, I’ll probably lose interest. That’s just a personal thing though.
Then there’s Camera RAW which seems fine, but would probably be my last choice. It just seems to give bit of an overall blur to the image, which isn’t all that useful.I guess it all comes down to personal preference. If i can get Noise Ninja sorted out, I’ll use that the most. Otherwise I’ll go with DPP and its simplicity.
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First roll from the new camera
Well I finally got around to developing the first roll from my new Bessa today.. What a disaster.
For the first time ever I had trouble loading the film onto the spools. It kept getting stuck, and would crease and bunch up.. I started to loose patience so decided to chop the film randomly in half and load the rest of the negatives on the other spool. By that time I was thinking about chucking the whole film out. I wasn’t in the best of moods. But I eventually stopped having a sook and put the Fujifilm Acros in Rodinal at 1+50 for 14 minutes. It turned out ok I think, not perfect though. Temperature was about 16 degrees which probably didn’t help.I went back to the Opera House again. I know its touristy, but I think its one of the more interesting structures in Sydney. I really likes it’s angles and curves and scale. Its very unique. I’m going to keep going back there trying to shoot some non touristy compositions.
Oh, and I had the 35mm on for all (except the last) of these shots.
Here’s a few more taken in the city:
Now this last shot was taken with a Russian Jupiter 8, 50mm f/2 lens from 1962. I only took a couple test shots with it, but wow I’m impressed. I’m really surprised how nice it looks wide open at f/2. It has really nice bokeh and bit of a natural “glow”. I think it’ll take a little while to get used to it, as it can render some areas a little bit too grey. But I’m going to keep practicing to get the best out of it. It’s by far the most unique looking lens i have. Oh and it cost me nothing which is extra nice 🙂
I’ll be using it with some colour film also.
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Tokyo pictorial book
I bought this pretty interesting book for $3 the other day.
Its just called “Tokyo” and was published by The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, printed in 1970. It seems to just be a tourist souvenir book, or something sent out to encourage travel to Japan, I’m not quite sure actually.
What I do know is that it’s full of some really interesting photography. Mostly comprising of black and white images (with the occasional colour slide shot), Its full of street photos and what appear to be pretty candid daily scenes.
It’s quite interesting in that it’s bit of a time capsule as you can see lots of old cars and buildings that have completely changed (by the time I visited last year). I really like old photographs of daily life.
Another thing I noticed, is that amongst all of the “material” changes in Tokyo such as buildings and cars and technology etc, the b&w photos of people don’t look all that dated, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, quite interesting though. There’s also a couple of photos of protests and general civil unrest which seems a bit strange to put in a tourist book, its referred to as “explosion of the student power” in the captions.
I just realised how hard it is to take photos of books (cameras are a lot easier Tim :p ), but here’s a few shots anyway. Oh, i almost forgot, there appears to be no credit given to the photographer/s of these photos. Nothing at all, which seems strange.
That guy on the right looks way too happy.
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Voigtlander Bessa R3A
I only recently purchased a Bessa R3A but it’s already one of my favourite cameras.
For those who aren’t familiar with this model, here is a bit of info about it.
The Bessa R3A is a 35mm film rangefinder camera made by Cosina Voigtlander in Japan. It features both aperture priority and full manual modes (as opposed to the R3M which lacks aperture priority). The camera has a Leica M mount meaning it can use a multitude of Leica and other brand M mount lenses. It can also use the Leica Thread Mount (M39) lenses via an adapter. The camera is constructed of magnesium alloy meaning that it feels very tough whilst only weighing around 400g. The camera has manually selectable frame lines in the viewfinder of 40/50/75/90 (of use full VF for 35mm), with a very sharp and contrasty rangefinder patch. The viewfinder on these cameras are one of its biggest features. It are incredibly bright and a pleasure to use. An added bonus is that the VF has 1x magnification, so everything is life size and using the camera with both eyes open is extremely easy.
The film advance is very smooth and solid, and the shutter button fires off the electronic shutter with just a light touch. Some people complain that the shutter noise is loud with these (well louder than some of the Leica’s). I cant comment on this as I’ve never used a Leia M for an extended period of time, but I can say the R3A’s shutter is quieter than any DSLR, SLR, and any of the many fixed lens rangefinders I have.
When taking photos in aperture priority mode the VF shows up the shutter speed that’s currently selected. If there’s not enough light, or too much light, the speed on the extreme end will flash to warn you. In manual mode it displays both your selected shutter speed and the recommended shutter speed at once (one flashes). This is such a simple system and very easy to get used too. You also get a AE lock activated by a separate button right under your thumb, plus exposure compensation for +/-2 stops via 1/2 stop increments. Shutter speeds are B to 1/2000 sec. (which is what I missed on my older rangefinders with only 1/1000 sec), plus iso 25-3200 by 1/3 steps. All pretty standard these days, but better than what I’ve become used to lately.
I’ve only just started shooting with it but can already tell this is a camera designed for the enthusiast. Everything feels solid, comfortable, and simple to use. Plus the price is only a fraction of a similar spec’d Leica (well, how many can you find with 1:1 VF and Av mode??), whilst being able to take all of its lenses and more.
As you can tell i really like this camera. It combines portability, quality, lens/accessory options, and simplicity in a very affordable package. A perfect introduction into the world of M mount rangefinders and lenses. I’m just worried that I’ve started travelling down a path my wallet will begin to hate me for!Below are a couple pictures I took of it this afternoon. The second one was purely for fun, don’t worry, I’m not trying to take it that serious :p
Camera has the Ultron 35mm f/1.7, side grip, and soft release attached.
You can read some more info here
Plus, I have a hard to find scanned user manual for the R3A/R2A in my Downloads section -
Europe Rescanned
I have been stuck inside doing assignments all weekend, but managed to find one distraction I couldn’t resist.
I stumbled on some old negatives of mine when I went to Europe with my family years ago. I was in year 10 in high school at the time, and just started a photography class at school. The only real reason I did the class was because we had to choose an art subject and I didn’t want to have to draw or paint… Yes I’m aware of the irony in that I’m a graphic designer now.
But anyway, the class quickly became my favourite and I would borrow a camera from school every weekend. When my parents told me we were going overseas to visit relatives in Italy I immediately thought about photo opportunities, so arranged to borrow a camera from school.
These were the days when I didn’t care about what camera or lens i was using, I don’t think I ever actually knew, I’d just pick up whatever was available and loaded it with film. I also didn’t care what film I was using at the time, which was both good and bad. I’d just load canisters with whatever was in the bulk loader at the time and try to squeeze 40 shots worth of film on them 😀
I quite like the thought of not worrying about the camera I’m holding or the film in it. It’s less calculated than the focus that I have now. I like trying to achieve a certain aesthetic which requires thinking about the film and developer used., However there is a definite attraction to not caring about what you’re using and just being content with the process in itself. Not stripping quality back for the sake of getting a “lomo” look, or going out of your way to use a manual camera to have “full control”. It was purely about capturing an image. Finding the shot with whatever you have in your hands.
It all sounds nice until I remember a few things. The lens I did use for a lot of shots was the biggest piece of shit. The left side was out of focus compared to the right so closeup images suffered pretty bad. The film advance lever wouldn’t always engage too, so I’d get overlapped images, or just weird spacing in between shots on the film. Then I remembered how I use to put the negatives in the holders when they were still wet. Some shots that would of been half decent are now covered in dust that has dried to the wet negative..
I like to remember a more “romantic” view of taking pictures when I was younger, but I think it’d be hard to completely go back to the way i used to do things. I’d like to think I enjoy the entire photography process more, as opposed to just the shooting itself.
Well, that’s how I justify the money I spend on cameras at least… 😉Here are some of the shots that weren’t covered in dust. This set was taken in Italy. I quite like them even if they aren’t perfect. It also helps to have a photogenic area to shoot in.
